Comment by marc dalmasso on January 26, 2011 at 21:25

all these pictures are extraordinary ; Thanks Richard ; however , i was pretty sure a banjolin was  exactly this but with only 4 strings ; for me , this is a banjo-mandolin ; CE himself advertise it as a banjolin  ... ? mistake ?

Comment by Richard William Ineson on November 20, 2012 at 17:18

All mandolin banjos are a mistake.

Comment by Jody Stecher on November 20, 2012 at 23:33

I used to think so too Richard, but then I found that if a better bridge was made and if it was strung very very lightly almost any mandolin-banjo becomes viable. Alternately it can be strung very lightly (with only one "very") and tuned down a step  or it can be strung singly and tuned to pitch. But with standard mandolin strings and tuned in pairs to pitch and with the original bridge,  most, if not *all* mandolin-banjos are horrific noise makers. I have only tried them with metal strings. Has anyone tried soft strings (nylon, gut, silk, etc)?

Comment by Trapdoor2 on November 20, 2012 at 23:50

I took my Gibson MB to the Tennessee Banjo Institute back in '92. There was one other guy playing one and every time we got together, someone would walk by with a look on their face like they'd just bitten into something unpleasant...

Comment by Jody Stecher on November 21, 2012 at 1:52

Always the same guy?

Comment by thereallyniceman on November 21, 2012 at 8:39

We have seen this before, but at 1.23min in Raymonde would bring a tear to a glass eye with his performance on the banjolin.

It doesn't seem to make him "look" happy though. Was he sucking a lemon?  ;-)

Comment by Richard William Ineson on November 21, 2012 at 14:48

We can only guess at the torment, that steaming cauldron of despair lurking behind Bill Dykes' natural aplomb; his face was never known to be graced by anything other than this glower, however, he was, according to those who knew him, a very jolly chap and always had a fund of good stories, sometimes of a somewhat racy nature. Never judge the book by the cover.

Comment by marc dalmasso on November 21, 2012 at 15:37

Our friend Henri here on the left in the church used to play mandolin banjo ; he used to re  write himself the score  for the banjo -mandolin ; sometimes , it was strange , he is a classical musician  with his hours of glory , even in UK

http://classic-banjo.ning.com/video/queen-of-the-ball

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